November short science fiction & fantasy challenge

The challenge for November is to read short science fiction or fantasy – short stories, novelettes, novellas. For fun, I'm making it a three-tier challenge. Do any one tier or all three.



Tier I: story or stories from a magazine. Read a story and comment on it in this thread.
Tier II: read an anthology (or a few stories in an anthology)
Tier III: Read a novelette or novella and comment on it on your thread. Then link to your comment from this thread.

For those inerested in definitions, here is what I found on masterclass.com.
- Short story is 1,000-7,500 words
- Novelette is 7,500-19,000 words
- Novella is 19,000-50,000 words
- Novel is 50,000-100,000 words

Please post to the wiki here.

Tier 1 suggestions – online or in print

I'm listing magazines first, as this is the initial form of publication for many authors, and is the material from which anthologies grow.

A few of these are available free online, with the option to contribute/subscribe; many are behind a paywall (subscription or individual purchase.) Check them out – maybe you can ask for or give a subscription to one for a birthday or holiday gift.

Amazing Stories (paywall)
Analog Science Fiction and Fact (paywall with free excerpts)
Asimov's Science Fiction (paywall with free excerpts)
Beneath Ceaseless Skies
Clarkesworld (British)
Fantasy Magazine (paywall)
Fireside Fiction
FIYAH (African American fiction, paywall)
Future: Science Fiction Digest (some translated fiction)
Interzone (paywall, click on Interzone)
Kalpabiswa (in Bengali only)
Lightspeed
Magzine of fantasy and science fiction(last published November/December 2020, paywall)
Mithlia Review (Focus on SE Asian fiction, paywall)
Strange Horizons
Uncanny

Please post to the wiki here.

Tier 2: Anthologies

Here is where libraries come in handy. I'll bet your local library has a few collections in this category. In addition to the many "Best of" anthologies, here is a list of some I'm aware of. Suggestions/additions welcome.

There are collections by one author

All the names they used for God
Bloodchild and other stories
Byte beautiful
Exhalation
Filter House
Friday black
How long 'til black future month?
Illustrated man
Martian chronicles
Meet me in the future
Refrigerator monologues
Sooner or later everything falls into the sea
Stories of your life and others
Unreal and the real, the (originally published as volume 1 "Where on earth" and volume 2 "Outer space, inner lands" 2012)
Wandering earth
Word puppets

And collections by a variety of authors

Best science fiction and fantasy of the year
Big book of science fiction
Biketopia: Feminist Bicycle Science Fiction Stories in Extreme Futures
Broken stars
Future is female, the: 25 classic science fiction stories by women, from pulp pioneers to Ursula K. Le Guin
Future tense fiction
Invisible planets
Latinix Rising
Love after the end
Multiverse
A People's future of the United States
Sunvault: stories of solarpunk and eco-speculation
Transcendent #: the year's best transgender speculative fiction
Wilde stories YYYY: the years best gay speculative fiction
Year's best science fiction
Iraq + 100

Please post to the wiki here.

Tier 3: Novelettes, Novellas

I have a few to post here, but this is where I need the most help. What's your favorite? What's on your to read pile?

Nghi Vo, including The empress of salt and fortune
The deep by Rivers Solomon
Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
Silver in the wood by Emily Tesh

Shamelessly added from suggestions.
Empress of Mars by Kage Baker
All seated on the ground by Connie Willis
Lifecycle of software objects by Ted Chiang
This is how you lose the time war by Amal El-Mohtar & Max Gladstone
Lois McMaster Bujold's Penric series
Becky Chambers, including A psalm for the wild-built
Binti & two others about Binti by Nnedi Okorafor
Wayward children series by Seanan McGuire

For those inerested in definitions, here is what I found on masterclass.com.
- Short story is 1,000-7,500 words
- Novelette is 7,500-19,000 words
- Novella is 19,000-50,000 words
- Novel is 50,000-100,000 words

Please post to the wiki here.

>5 markon: I'm a big fan of Connie Willis, who has written some great sci-fi novellas. I'm planning to read her Terra Incognita: Three Novellas for this challenge.

There's also the Murderbot series by Martha Wells...I haven't read it, but I believe many of the installments are novellas.

Ooh, or what about Lois McMaster Bujold's Penric series? Again, mostly novellas (or short stories), I think.

>1 markon: wow, great OP(s)!

Murderbot is perfect, though I've read all but the latest. I'm waiting for the price to go down...

I think I'll do this one, it's been on my shelves for a year:


The Very Best of Tad Williams

I have a science fiction anthology entitled The Second Golden Age of Science Fiction by Mark Clifton that I am planning on reading. I'm also planning on reading a short story called Worth Her Weight In Gold, a River of Teeth story by Sarah Gailey.

>6 christina_reads: >7 fuzzi: I read the first Murderbot story in an anthology Nebula Awards Showcase 2019 on Scribd. I think I will read the other stories in the anthology for this challenge.

>1 markon: Does anybody know of a site which gives word counts for published fiction? My personal guideline is short story up to 50 pages, novellas 50 - 150 pages, novels over 150 pages in treebook form since the number of pages can vary so much in ebook form.

>10 Robertgreaves: I found something on masterclass.com, but don't know how authoritative it is.

For those inerested in definitions, here is what I found on masterclass.com.
- Short story is 1,000-7,500 words
- Novelette is 7,500-19,000 words
- Novella is 19,000-50,000 words
- Novel is 50,000-100,000 words (with 80 - 100 K for experienced writers - 1st novels may be shorter)

>11 markon:, yes I saw that in your introductory post. My question is, given a particular book, is there somewhere I can look up how many words it has so I know whether it is above or below the 50,000 word mark?

I'm planning to read Doctor Who: The Day She Saved the Doctor, 4 short stories about recent female companions.

>5 markon: I loved This is How You Lose the Time War.

>Sorry, Robert, I misnunderstood the question. I'm not aware of a site that lists word count for specific stories - I'd say your "treebook" count is as good as any, but that doesn't help if you read in ebook format.

>10 Robertgreaves:, >12 Robertgreaves: Sorry, Robert, I misnunderstood the question. I'm not aware of a site that lists word count for specific stories - I'd say your "treebook" count is as good as any, but that doesn't help if you read in ebook format.

>13 VioletBramble: I thought it was quite enjoyable myself.

>15 markon: For ebooks, I look up the treebook on Amazon to see how many pages it has.

Woohoo, what a great theme! :)

I have several short stories waiting on my ereader and this month will give me the occasion to read several of them, I hope! :)

Concerning resources, for those who don't know it dotepub.com is a fantastic took that can create an ebook out of a webpage. I use it all the time to read short-stories that are available in magazines.

>10 Robertgreaves: (and everybody) The website isfdb.com is a fantastic resource for short fiction in the sff field. It doesn't list the word count but gives the category of each work as short-story, novella, etc, and also states in which magazines or anthologies a short story was published.

For magazines, I'll add
https://apex-magazine.com
to the ones suggested in >3 markon:.
Also tor.com has a number of short-stories and novellas available for free online, and has edited a large number of others that are available as ebooks (they are the editors of the most famous Murderbot series which was mentioned already, which I absolutely recommend).

Another good novellas series starts with Every Heart a doorway by Seanan McGuire.
The novella Binti by Nnedi Okorafor is on my wishlist and if I find the time I may read it this month.

My favorite author of all time for short fiction is Ted Chiang. He wrote Story of your life which was the inspiration for the movie Arrival. He has published two collections, Stories of your life and others, and Exhalation, which are terrific IMO. If you're interested in reading single stories, many of his are available for free online.

I also was really impressed by Ken Liu's first collection, The paper menagerie and other stories (not as much by his second one The hidden girl and other stories, unfortunately, though it was still good).

Finally a resource that I enjoy is https://sffreviews.com, which gives reviews of recent short-fiction, many of which is available for free online.

Enjoy!

>17 chlorine: Thanks for the mention ifsdb.com. I'm not familiar with that one. And additions to the novella list.

I completed Riot Baby by Tochi Onyebuchi. It is a novella length work that features a brother and sister with special powers but it also explores racism in reality and by use of speculative fiction.

>19 Kristelh: I've heard good things aboutRiot baby, it just hasn't hopped up on my lap yet.

COMPLETED "Weaponized Math" by Jonathan P. Brazee, a contender for Best Novelette in Nebula Awards Showcase 2019. Military SF which had me yawning.

"Utopia LOL" by Jamie Wahls, a contender for Best Short Story from the same anthology, was more interesting.

Now starting To Be Taught If Fortunate by Becky Chambers, which describes itself as a novella.

COMPLETED To Be Taught If Fortunate by Becky Chambers (novella)

My review:
Ariadne O'Neill and her shipmates are exploring the four planets orbiting a red dwarf when they make a remarkable discovery.

The planets are fascinatingly different from each other and I hugely enjoyed these strange new worlds and the explorers' efforts to have the minimum possible impact on each one. I must admit I found the major discovery at the end of the book and the way it changed their decision about what to do next a bit of an anti-climax.

Now reading:
The Seep by Chana Porter (novella + short story)
Tales from the Folly by Ben Aaronovitch (collection of short stories - my insomnia reading)

Since Gothic is sometimes considered a forerunner of fantasy, I'm listing Seven Gothic tales here. A bit disappointing, as they were not very atmospheric.

I can sometimes find anthologies that have a lot of short fiction I like, but with magazines I often have to read several before I find one I think is good. Here's one I enjoyed about a cranky old woman from Fugure Science Fiction Digest, Old Woman's Folly by Nora Schinnerl

Please remember to post to the wiki.

COMPLETED The Seep by Chana Porter. The book consists of a novella and a short story.

My review:

An alien intelligence takes over the Earth, offering humans immortality and the ability to heal and transform bodies. But at what cost to what makes them human?

It's an interesting premise but the author didn't make a good job of integrating world-building, characterisation, and a story in the novella that was the core of this book, and I found it rather a slog to get through. The accompanying short story re-telling some of the events from another character's viewpoint, where the world-building had already been done, was much more readable.

I also read another story from the Nebula Showcase, "Fandom for Robots" by Vina Jie-Min Prasad. This was one of the contenders for the Best Short Story award. I really enjoyed this one for the way it pokes gentle fun at fandoms and fanfic writers.

>25 Robertgreaves: Fandom for Robots was a story I came here to recommend! :)
It's available here:
https://uncannymagazine.com/article/fandom-for-robots/
and I dare any of you to read the first two paragraphs and not want to read the whole thing! :)

So far I've read Beyond the door by Philip K. Dick, a very short and forgetable, if somewhat athmospheric, story about a cuckoo clock with a living, or at least sentient, cuckoo.

I just finished Bots of the lost Ark by Suzanne Palmer, which is quite good and is the sequel to The secret life of Bots. I really recommend both, starting with the first one available here:
https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/palmer_09_17/

Both are about sentient bots that do maintenance in a huge space ship and encounter situations in which they have to take initiative, which bots are not usually supposed to do or be able to do, which leads to much reading glee. :)

>25 Robertgreaves: I may have to go back and look at The seep again. The copy I read last year didn't have the short story in it. I liked it better than you, but agree it needed some work. I liked the ideas and questions the author posed.

>26 chlorine: Sounds like fun! I'll check both out online.

I've just purchased an ecopy of Multispecies futures: solarpunk urban futures ediited by Christoph Rupprecht. Hope some of these turn out to be good.

I have a new book of short stories called The Monster Hunter Files that I bought at DragonCon. Since my reading time will be limited this month, even with Thanksgiving days off, having short stories will be the perfect read for the month!

Thank you for this great theme, markon.

>27 markon: The short story was called "And The World Was New" and tells some events from the POV of the boy from the compound.

COMPLETED Tales from the Folly by Ben Aaronovitch, a collection of short stories from his Rivers of London universe.

Starting A Blink of the Screen by Terry Pratchett, a collection of Discworld and other short stories

I'm going to revisit the Murderbot Diaries for this challenge. I'll start with The Future of Work: Compulsory

Ignore me, wrong thread.

I read Gwendy's Button Box which is a novella/fantasy horror. Mostly fantasy by Stephen King and Richard Chizmar coming of age story.

SFFKIT for 2022 is up and looking for monthly volunteers.
https://www.librarything.com/topic/336663

I have completed my read of The Second Golden Age of Science Fiction by Mark Clifton. This was a fun collection of science fiction stories from the 1950s.

I also read the very short story, Worth Her Weight in Gold by Sarah Gailey.

>Thumbed your review. I reallly need to try some Sarah Gailey.

>36 markon: Thanks for the thumb!

I found an interesting anthology of short fiction, Selected Shorts: A Touch of Magic by various authors. So far I've listened to The Palmist by Andrew Lam (new to me, and no touchstone); The Veldt by Ray Bradbury (a reread), The Monkey's Paw by W.W. Jacobs also a reread; The Occasional Garden by Saki, and Donald Barthleme's The Balloon. Now some of these are horror, some science fiction, some fantasy. I'm about half way through and it is an enjoyable anthology. I found it on Libby.

Sounds like an intersting listen, Kristelh.

I just finished Get In Trouble by Kelly Link. Pretty good, overall. Some odd stories in there. I think my favorite was the first, "The Summer People."

Also, we only have a couple more months needing hosts for SFFKit 2022, if anyone is interested!

Is the December thread up?

>41 SilverWolf28: Haven't seen it yet.

>42 markon: I PM'd the member who signed up for December, no reply yet. Give it a couple more days. 😁

>43 fuzzi: Even her own challenge thread hasn't had anything posted since January, ....

>44 Robertgreaves: 😶😶😶

OK folks, enter those last November reads and jump here for December.

>46 markon: thanks for stepping up and hosting December!

Alright, finally posting for November.

Finished The Monster Hunter Files edited by Larry Correia and Bryan Thomas Schmidt. While I give the concept and the various authors an "A" for originality and keeping MHI intact, I've come to realize that stories about blowing away things with massive firepower just aren't my thing.

We live and learn:) Thanks for posting!

>49 markon: Yes, yes we do. Thank you!